Zhixu reentered the room that Butakha had left me in.

"Don't think that this is over nonbender girl. Whether Butakha said those things or not, you will be eradicated from this institution, eventually" she scolded as she reluctantly showed me to the dormitory.

Zhixu stuck the key in the hole and jiggled it around for a moment before we heard a soft click. She creaked open the door.

A bunch of little boys and girls, some at least four years younger than me, if not more, were scattered throughout the room doing a multitude of things. Some were running around and playing, others were lying down on their beds, and even more were just talking amongst each other.

They couldn't have been more than seven or eight years old. It brought tears to my eyes; all these young children, years younger than I, were living without parents. And with a witch on top of that!

Akash was running around with the other little boys.

I stood, watching in amazement. But my thoughts were interrupted by a kid who came up to me. At first glance, she looked like a boy, since she had short hair. But then I noticed her feminine features: her sharp cheekbones, her slender fingers, and her angular eyes.

"Name's Isi. Nice to meet ya. But there ain't no way in hell you is nine!" she deduced correctly, her thick eyebrows furrowed.

"I'm 14. I'm Akira, and that boy over there is my brother, Akash. He's six. Butakha got me in here. I just got lucky, I guess," I responded, shrugging my shoulders.

"The big guy? He let you in? Damn, you did got lucky!"

I was puzzled. She was so young, yet she was talking as if she was my age. She continued to talk.

"I've heard stories about Butakha. They say he's the meanest rich guy around. Doesn't take crap from anyone. He owns the whole pro-bending thingamajig. It seems pretty stupid, but that shit got him rich! Rumor has it he lives in a mansion on the outskirts of the city; some say it's even bigger than the Sato mansion. I doubt that, though. Lately, the coppers have been investigating him. They're saying he hands out money to the head honchos of all them gangs around Republic City. I wouldn't be surprised, though," Isi rambled.

"He does launder money" I mumbled.

"Eh, anyone could've guessed it," she replied.

I looked at her quizzically. Isi yawned.

"You believe me?" I asked.

"Of course! I mean, look at the guy! He looks like he could be a gang member himself!" Isi answered.

I smiled.

No one had believed in me, not even Momma about Seiji at first, yet this girl, she did.

"We better get started on the chores, otherwise Zhixu's gonna starve us for three days. C'mon. You can help me and the girls scrub the floors while the boys sweep the rest," Isi said, while grabbing the water-filled pail in the corner of the room.

As I got on my knees and scrubbed the wooden floorboards of the dormitory, I looked around me. My new life didn't look very promising, but I couldn't lose hope. After all, everything happened for a reason. Everything would turn out for the better in the end. I had Akash. I thought that maybe, just maybe, I could be happy.

Akash continued to run around the orphanage with his new friends. Joy enveloped my soul. At least Akash was having fun. But the moment was ruined when Zhixu entered the room.

"NO FOOD FOR THREE DAYS!" She shouted in their ears. Akash and the other boys began to cry, and Isi and I proceeded to calm them down.

I glared at Zhixu-she would be a huge problem. But she merely smirked back at me. This was war.

I promised to give Akash and the other boys a portion of my food, but by the time they really calmed down, it was about nine o' clock, and I was exhausted. I led Akash to his cot.

"Goodnight Akash," I whispered as I kissed his forehead.

"Kira?" he squeaked.

"Hmm?" I yawned.

"I love you," he mumbled as he closed his eyes and drifted off into a peaceful slumber.

I beamed. His love was enough for me, even if Momma was gone. I still missed her so much, and the thought of her brought tears to my eyes. But Akash's love held my heart and soul together. Without him, I didn't know where I would have been.

After tucking him and the other boys and girls in, I laid down in my cot. It was extremely uncomfortable; the mattress was so thin, I could feel the wood press against my back. But, unable to keep my eyes open, I fell asleep.

CRASH!

The familiarity of the sound caused me to scream. I heard Seiji's maniacal laughter all around me. His guffaw chewed at my eardrums. I looked around. Amidst the darkness, there was Momma, standing oh so far away from me.

"Momma!" I shouted. But my voice was drowned out by the vicious laughter. I started to run toward her, my arms reaching out to grab her hands, to interlace my fingers with hers, to save her. But no matter how fast I ran, I couldn't get any closer.

"Akira!" she shouted, her cries for help gnawing at my heart. Tears escaped my eyes, and frustration boiled in my veins. But soon, the ground in front of me was replaced by Seiji's enormous stature. He stood 100 feet tall, his shadow engulfing my small frame with darkness. He continued to howl.

"LEAVE US ALONE!" I screamed at the top of my lungs. Instead, he started to make a grab for me. But just as he was about to take me away, he disappeared. In his place was a mask.

The mask.

"Only I have the power to release you from your sorrow."

I reached out, entranced by its glory.

"Akira! Akira! Akira!" A voice pierced the darkness. Immediately, the ground beneath me began to crumble. I fell into darkness. I tried to reach for the mask, but it tumbled away from me into the shadows of my dream.

I awoke just as I was about to hit the ground.

"AKIRA!"

My eyes fluttered open.

"What?!" I demanded irately. Isi sat above me; or on me, rather. The room was still pitch black, so I assumed it was around the middle of the night.

"I just wanted to make sure you were okay. It sounded like you was crying in your sleep" she replied softly.

"Well I'm fine," I huffed, wanting to go back to sleep so I could return to my dream.

To the mask.

"Okay," Isi said a matter-of-factly.

I turned in my cot. But the wood had seriously cut into the bones of my back, and a severe ache pulsed through my spine. I took off my blanket, despite the chilly air in the dormitory, and lay down on top of it, hoping it would increase the distance between my back and the wood. The blanket did little to help, and shiver spasms shook my body. I curled up into fetal position and tried to sleep, but to no avail.

I groaned in pain.

"Can't sleep?" asked a voice. Isi turned around to face me from her cot. "Me either."

I let my arm hang limp off the bed. "No. Not really," I sighed.

"Sorry for waking you up. I was just worried, but I guess I shouldn't have been. The nightmares usually go away after a few days. Unless you're Osamu over there," she stated matter-of-factly, her silhouetted thumb pointing to a boy the size of a turtle duck who was whining in his sleep. "His sister was denied entry into this place. He still has nightmares about Zhixu throwin' her out. We don't got the heart to tell him his sister died a few weeks after, from some painful disease. He's gonna be one messed up adult, that's for sure. He don't wanna leave the orphanage because he thinks she's comin' back or somethin'," she continued.

"That's so sad," I mused, my eyes shifting toward the whining little boy. It wasn't fair that I had been allowed to stay in here while that poor boy's sister was thrown out and died as a result.

"Don't feel guilty," Isi consoled. "Tons of kids die because of Zhixu. Ya just happened to get lucky. Be grateful for that. It's survival of the fittest out here. And guilt ain't gon' get you nowhere, ya hear?"

She spoke with the wisdom of someone twice her age.

"Isi, how old are you?" I asked.

She inhaled sharply before answering.

"How'd you know?" she asked.

"You don't talk like you're nine years old, Isi," I replied.

"I'm really 12 years old," she began. "Luckily though, I was born with a baby face, I guess. So I can pass for about nine. It came in handy when I found this orphanage last year. A good friend of mine led me to this place. He told me you had to be ten and under to get in, since the matron was cruel. He looked older than his age, so he knew he couldn't get in. But…"

She hesitated before deciding to finish her story.

"But he said I would be able to get in. He always teased me about my baby face, so I thought it was another joke. It…it wasn't. He wanted me to be safe in the orphanage. So he insisted I go. I told him to come with me. But he said he had other 'duties.' He said he couldn't get in anyway. And so I went alone. I haven't seen him since. He…he was my best friend," she finished, her voice quavering. Isi cleared her throat before I heard her shift again in her cot.

"Isi," I said.

"Yeah?" she replied.

"You loved him, didn't you?" I assumed.

She heaved a heavy sigh before shifting in her cot.

"Not loved. I don't think that eleven-year olds are gon' know too much 'bout love. But I guess ya could say I really liked 'em. I kissed him once, on accident; I didn't know what I was doin' until I did it. I miss him," she trailed off.

"I'm sorry," I said flatly.

"It's okay, I guess. Maybe it was for the best." She turned back towards me.

"What about ya, Akira? What's ya story? Why'd ya come here?" she bombarded me with questions.

I shut my eyes tight and bit my lips until I tasted the salty flavor of blood. It was still too painful.

"It's okay, I get it. It's not something ya want to talk 'bout with me," Isi mumbled.

"No, wait!" I implored. "I'll…I'll tell you. I used to live with my mom. My dad died when I was really young, I guess. My mom was really depressed because of that, so she remarried some guy, Seiji. He…he became an…alcoholic, and he…"

I paused for a moment to rub my eyes dry.

"…he beat my mother to death." I heard Isi gasp.

"I ended up in the hospital, because he had punched me out, and well, some stuff happened and I was sent here," I recollected. Frankly, I was able to keep my tear ducts in check. I gulped.

"That's prolly the saddest story I've ever heard. I mean, I never knew my parents. I kinda grew up on the streets; s'all I 'member. Don't know how I got there, or who my parents were, or how I even survived. I only 'member meetin' my friend when I was about six, and going on city-wide adventures with him for five years before coming here. But havin' your momma killed right in front of you; gosh that sounds painful," Isi sympathized.

Yeah. It is," I grumbled.

"Don't worry, Akira," Isi assured. "Ya've got me on your side! We'll help ya. I 'm the best person to help ya, after all. Ya can always count on a friend like me!" She enthused.

My heart warmed at the fact that somebody considered me their friend.

"I don't think you know how much that means to me," I replied gently.

"Glad to help!" Isi responded.

I had never had a friend before, besides Momma, Akash, and Mr. Fa.

So friendship was definitely a refreshing feeling, especially after all the hardships I had endured throughout the past few weeks.

Finally, it seemed liked my life was on a positive incline. I started to really believe that my new life wouldn't be so bad after all, because now, not only did I have Akash, but I had Isi as well.

Slowly, my eyelids draped over my pupils, and I fell into a dreamless sleep.